Business as usual for Greene

LAUSANNE (SWITZERLAND), JULY 5. American sprint sensation Maurice Greene demolished another top calibre 100 metres field while compatriot Marion Jones hung on to record a narrow win at the Lausanne Grand Prix athletics meeting on Wednesday.

Answering any questions about a rumoured knee injury, Greene led out of blocks and powered across the line in 9.90 seconds, equalling the season's best time he set at the U.S. trials last month.

Left trailing the Olympic and World champion was the man who chased him to gold in Sydney, silver medallist and training partner Ato Boldon of Trinidad in 9.99.

Briton Dwain Chambers, fourth at the Sydney Olympics, was third in a personal season's best time of 10.00.

``I wouldn't say that's my favourite time but I'm pleased the way I ran today,'' said Greene, the 100m World record holder. ``I won and I'm building up as the season goes on towards the World championships.

``As long as I keep getting faster.... The most important thing is that I'm first.''

While Greene shone, Jones continued to have problems finding top gear in what has been a sluggish start to her outdoor campaign.

Jones followed up her win at the Golden Gala in Rome on Friday with another victory, but again the World and Olympic champion failed to impress, clocking an ordinary 11.04 to narrowly edge out training partner Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas by 0.01 seconds.

Mercy Nku of Nigeria was third in 11.06, followed by Zhanna Pintusevich of Ukraine, who owns the season's best time of 10.93.

``I'm not so concerned about my slow start,'' said Jones, who will try for four gold medals at the World championships next month in Edmonton, Canada. ``I'm happy, I'm healthy and everything will come into place soon. Technically I was very lousy, but I'm happy to come here and get the victory.

``Everyone was looking at Pintusevich but if you saw the race in Rome you know Chandra was the one to look out for.''

The meeting opened on tense note, when two anti- Beijing protesters raced on to the centre of the track shortly after a speech from outgoing Olympic chief Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Unfurling a sign that read: ``no to the Olympics in Beijing,'' the duo, representing the group ``Reporters without borders,'' stood quietly in front of the presidential box until they were hustled away by stadium staff.

The pair was punched as it was dragged off the field and escorted out of the Pontaise stadium.

But the focus quickly returned to the track, the meeting producing a number of season's best times, including one in the men's 1,500 metres by Algeria's Ali Saidi-Sief.

The Olympic silver medallist over 5,000 metres, Saidi- Sief staged a thrilling duel with Kenyans Laban Rotich and Olympic champion Noah Ngeny over the final 100 metres, storming across the line in 3:29.51, bettering the time clocked by World record holder Hicham El Guerrouj set last Friday in Rome.

The meet began with American Olympic champion Angelo Taylor clocking a season best of 47.95 in the 400m hurdles and finished with compatriot Ramon Clay doing the same in the 200 metres with 20.05.

In between, Kenyan Paul Bitok slashed a little over six seconds off the season's best time in the 3,000 metres, charging across the line in 7:32.61.

He was followed home by four of his countrymen, all going under the previous season best time of 7:38.72.

Switzerland's Andre Bucher delighted the home crowd when he improved the season's best time in the 800 metres for the second time in six days with 1:43.58.

Michelle Freeman's World championship hopes ended when the Jamaican crashed heavily during the women's 100 metre hurdles B final held before the start of the main event.

The former-World indoor and Commonwealth champion struck a hurdle midway through the race and fell to the track screaming in agony.

She was taken from the track on stretcher and to a nearby hospital with what is believed to be a broken leg.

- Reuters

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